On Beauty (Part 21) A Cubist’s Dream

On one of my quarry walks I noticed some astonishingly square boulders left in some very interesting places. Here is perhaps the squarest and most striking of all. It is as if some Stone Age cubist artist created his own zen landscape for posterity to see. A master piece in my mind!

From Beauty (Click for Larger View)

On Beauty (Part 20) Solid Anchors for Life

Rarely is there a visual metaphor that works so well for me. The little rope is such a good picture of me in life. I was walking the old granite quarries of Rockport one fall afternoon when I cam across this anchor driven into the granite above a cliff. It was obviously used in the old quarry days for anchoring and lifting huge slabs of granite from the cliff face. It was large and thick and driven deeply into the solid rock. Instinctually, it looked as if you could trust your life to it. Several people apparently had as it looks as if it is commonly used by present-day rock climbers as a safety anchor. The little rope reminds me of how I cling to God for life and purpose. That solid anchor gives me the courage to metaphorically (ok, sometimes literally) jump off a cliff or take other large risks. My faith in the solidity of that anchor is growing not lessening as I spend more day on this blue spinning rock we call home.

From Beauty (Click for Larger View)

On Beauty (Part 19) – Boston Chill

Boston can be a good looking city, even in the dead of winter. This picture was taken near dawn from a forest vantage point near my house. Boston looks lovely and still in this picture, actually it was total chaos that morning as the snow and freezing rain of the night before tied the entire city in knots.

From Beauty (Click for Larger View)

On Beauty (Part 18) – Wind Garden

From Beauty (Click for Larger View)

No this is not a Martial landscape! Death Valley is full of surprises. There is so little rain in the park that erosion which looks as if it has been caused by water is sometimes actually caused by wind. Such is the case with these little wind gardens of rocks and sand that can be found on the flatter parts of the valley floor.

The Kingdom of God (Part 1) – Financial Redundancy

It occurred to me that one of the images of the Kingdom of God (“KOG” for short) that Jesus paints in the Christian Scriptures is very misunderstood/misconstrued. Let me explain.

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The Passage

There is yet another troublesome passage in Matthew that goes something like this:

The Little Children and Jesus

Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich Young Man

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”"Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. [highlights mine]

The Problem

I hope you’ll take special note of the last sentence (not that you could avoid doing so!). I include the rest of it because I usually take issue with people who quote small parts of scripture out of context. I think this gives the most important context to the passage. (and it never hurts to read more wise old writing, right?)

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I read this; there is not much comfort. It seems that Jesus is asking us to give all our possessions away, embrace destitution and follow him to a miserable death in order to receive our reward of judging the tribes of Israel (yea, I can’t even judge if a stock is good, much less a person.) and lots of pie in heaven (for you non-churchy folks, that is a very old reference to “pie in the sky, by-and-by” which is probably a phrase you have used, but may not have known it has a churchy origin).

This gets me to thinking, ‘If this is true, who wants to follow Christ? Not me, except for that whole eternal damnation thing. Well ok, maybe I’ll give this whole Jesus thing a shot, but I ain’t gonna live like a pauper; and well, God will just have to accept me as I am.’ This sort of thinking usually makes me grateful for forgiveness, but not much more holy. Who has not been at this point in their thinking?

It is at this point that my study of scripture becomes very intentional, and I just intentionally ’skip it’ because it is too hard. It is just too hard to be faithful–and this particular lesson must be for the ‘advanced’ class. Being gracious and humble to myself, I just say, ‘well someday I’ll be a zen-master-blackbelt-ninja-Jesus-follower and I’ll put on my rags and go beg in the street singing, “For brother poverty, we give thanks…” with all my deeply sanctified brethren and sistren.’ Only, and, of course, this never happens. Why?

A Possible Resolution

There are lots of reasons, but there is one that I really want to focus on. Here it is: This passage is not about a reward in heaven, no, that alone is not (in my considered judgment) what the passage is saying. This passage is about the here and now. It is an image of the KOG as we should see it in this present moment, even as you are reading these words.

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Asking Mark for Help

I rarely use parallel texts as “proof texts” for interpretations of other scriptures, but in this instance a parallel text is compelling. Without further ado, I bring you Mark’s version of the same text:

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Once again, please take note of the ‘red letters’ (ok, so this is another inside joke. For the non-churchy among you, I can separately explain, but send me a note on it so I don’t fill up the screen with it here).

The Real Prosperity Gospel

..and there it is, “in this present age” the real prosperity gospel (oh my, another inside joke, not very funny though) straight from the lips of Christ!

Now it is generally accepted that Mark pre-dates and was likely a direct source for Matthew. In this instance, I think it makes sense to allow both passages to read that these hundred fold benefits would accrue to the Christian in the here and now, not only in the by-and-by. And, in any case, Mark’s meaning is perfectly clear. He is talking about the here and now, even if you want to believe Matthew is ambiguous on this point.

Some Questions

So, how does God expect that we will all receive one-hundred fold that which we give away? Has it happened to you?

It has not to me, but I think I know the answer. Unfortunately, this post is already too long, so we’ll discuss the answer in Part 2. To make sure you don’t miss Part 2 to this series–subscribe to this blog in Google Reader here.

Postnote:

Did you see Barrack Obama’s name mentioned anywhere in there? Did you know about his campaign effort called The Matthew 25 Network? I don’t see it in there either, nor do I see the principles mentioned in the text being furthered and fought for on their website. I support his election as president. I do not support this disingenuous use of scripture to elect a political leader, however.

Other Thoughts Worth Reading (Part 2) Hugh Gets It Right…

Worth the read…

The Death of Evelyn and the Failure of the Church

from Jesus Manifesto by Hugh Hollowell

God = (Part 2)

God = Never having to say you’re sorry (because God already knows what’s in your heart), but doing it anyway (because you have wounded someone you care for and want to be re-united).

God = (Part 1)

God = no waiting in line for love or attention.

On Beauty (Part 17) – “Extra” Ordinary Beauty

I sometimes am just amazed at the beauty created by things we would not normally think could do so…plain ol’ mud is one of those things. However, in my hiking in Death Valley, it was easy to find again and again, beauty created by ordinarily ugly things. There are a few things that constantly amaze me in this regard, tree bark, lichen on rocks, patterns in sand caused by wind and tide, and leaves on the forest floor to name a few. What are your favorites?

From Beauty (Click for larger View)

On Beauty (Part 16) Forgotten Places

Sometimes you come across a scene that drips with interest. Such was this little ruin in the heart of Death Valley. Sometimes there is a lot in a name…

From Beauty (Click for larger view)

Mature Virtue

Christian versus Secular ‘Maturity’

This post is part of a syncroblog on “Maturity in the Light of our Faith.” I am not sure how that is any different than maturity in general. It seems that being mature would mean the same thing for Christians or otherwise. In general, I am not too good at being mature anyway (just ask my close friends or watch me play with my doggie), so perhaps anything I say after this word, should be taken with a grain of salt.

‘Christian Maturity’

But then there is this particularly Christian domain of ‘imitating Christ’ to consider. It seems something that non-christians are not too interested in, even most Christians, if hanging on a cross is any measure to use.

So, what makes a mature ‘Christian’ then? It seems that there might be several answers to this. This is probably just my childishness speaking. I am sure there is really only one best way to be and judge a mature Christian. What shall we say? Does the mature Christian look like Christ (or what we think he looked like (I’m not talking about physical looks here))? Does (s)he sound like Christ? Does (s)he act like Christ? Does (s)he love like Christ? Or is the mature Christian just someone who is adored as Christ was adored?

More Than Just Being Adored

From my experience, it seems that much of the church thinks that anyone adored as Christ must be mature. I think that this is often true, but not always. There are lots of examples of fame and true maturity which I think are almost universally agreed with today. For instance, the inimitable Mother Teresa for one. I don’t even need to supply the other side of this example do i?

If then to imitate Christ is the best measure, and it must be, then the mature Christians must be the ones who act like Christ, duh…

To Act or Not to Act

What did Christ do? He loved and provided for the forgotten. He opposed the oppressor. He even loved his enemies. He made ‘holy mischief’ (Thanks to Shane Claiborne for this phrase, love it) every chance he got. He touched the untouchables–repeatedly. He found beauty where no others did. He absorbed wounds and returned cuts with healing. He lived and died for someone other than himself. He fed the hungry, gave drink to those with thirst, and comfort to the weary. He even partied with his friends and made a good vintage.

To the extent that someone’s life resembles some of the things above, (s)he is mature in Christ.

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If you enjoyed this post you will also enjoy reading this post: On Obama, Jesus and the Matthew 25 Network

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Here is a list of bloggers who are taking part in this month’s synchroblog on the topic “Maturity in the Light of our Faith”:

Phil Wyman at Square No More with “Is Maturity Really What I Want?“
Lainie Petersen at Headspace with “Watching Daddy Die“
Kathy Escobar at The Carnival in My Head with “what’s inside the bunny?“
John Smulo at JohnSmulo.com
Erin Word at Decompressing Faith with “Long-Wearing Nail Polish and Other Stories“
Beth Patterson at The Virtual Teahouse with “the future is ours to see: crumbling like a mountain“
Bryan Riley at Charis Shalom with “Still Complaining?“
Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church with “Maturity and Education“
KW Leslie at The Evening of Kent with “Putting spiritual infants in charge“
Bethany Stedman at Coffee Klatch with “Moving Towards True Being: The Long Process of Maturity“
Adam Gonnerman at Igneous Quill with “Old Enough to Follow Christ?“
Joe Miller at More Than Cake with “Intentional Relationships for Maturity“
Jonathan Brink at JonathanBrink.com with “I Won’t Sin“
Susan Barnes at A Booklook with “Growing Up“
Tracy Simmons at The Best Parts with “Knowing Him Who is From the Beginning“
Joseph Speranzella at A Tic in the Mind’s Eye with “Spiritual Maturity And The Examination of Conscience“
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes with “vulnerable maturity“
Liz Dyer at Grace Rules with “What I Wish The Church Knew About Spiritual Maturity“
Cobus van Wyngaard at My Contemplations with “post-enlightenment Christians in an unenlightened South Africa“
Steve Hayes at Khanya with “Adult Content“
Ryan Peter at Ryan Peter Blogs and Stuff with “The Foundation For Ministry and Leading“
Kai Schraml at Kaiblogy with “Mature Virtue“
Nic Paton at Sound and Silence with “Inclusion and maturity“
Lew Ayotte at The Pursuit with “Maturity and Preaching“

On Beauty (Part 15)

From Beauty (click for larger view)